[Note: The following material was distributed at the Annual Meeting (not by the ASIL). It is herein reprinted for your consideration.]

The Hague Appeal for Peace 1999 is an end -of-century peace campaign dedicated to the de-legitimization of war.Just as civilization has largely left behind slavery, colonialism, and apartheid, The Hague Appeal for Peace 1999 seeks to re-focus our minds on the vision of a world in which violent conflict is publically acknowledged as illegitimate, illegal, and fundamentally unjust.

The Hague Appeal for Peace 1999 has 3 stages. The first of these is a 2-year preparatory process, which already involves over 400 organizations around the globe. The second is an end-of-century peace and justice conference to be held from May 11-16 1999 in The Hague, capital of The Netherlands. The third stage is a follow-up campaign on the Agenda for the 21^st Century on Peace and International Justice that will emerge from The Hague Process.

After a decade of world conferences on children, environment, human rights, social development, population, advancement of women, and habitat, we believe the last major conference of the century should be on peace and international justice.

We have chosen to hold the conference in May 1999 because this date marks the 100^th anniversary of the First Hague International Peace Conference. This conference, organized by the Czar of Russia and the Queen of the Netherlands, was the first time that a conference was held not to conclude or settle a war, but to focus on building a lasting world peace. The growth of institutions and values that protect civilians, regulate conflict, and ensure human security can be traced to last century. s efforts in The Hague.

The goals and framework of The Hague Appeal for Peace 1999 draw from those set at the First International Peace Conference of 1899, updated to address contemporary conditions. These are:

• to strengthen international human rights and humanitarian law and institutions;

• to advance to peaceful settlement of disputes, including conflict prevention and peace building; and

• to link and develop substantive issues in disarmament, including nuclear abolition.

Thus, while sharing the goals and themes of the previous Hague conferences, the Appeal. s program will also include a strong emphasis on the root causes of war and advancing a global culture of peace.

Using the expertise of our Organizing Committee, the Appeal is forming strong cross-sectoral working groups on key focus areas, such as women and armed conflict; peace education; environment and conflict; and the role of media in preventing deadly conflicts. We are also placing a particular organizational emphasis on youth, with a student and youth program currently coordinated out of our office in The Hague.

The goals and content of The Hague Appeal for Peace are developed and implemented by the Appeal. s Organizing Committee. At present the Organizing Committee is comprised of:

Amnesty International*, Coordinating Centre of Arab Peace Organizations, Earth Action International, European Action Council for Peace in the Balkans, European Law Students Association, Friends of the Earth, International Alert, International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms**, International Commission of Jurists*, International Committee of the Red Cross*, International Fellowship of Reconciliation, International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility, International Peace Bureau**, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War**, NGO Committee for Disarmament, Pax Christi International, Peace Boat, Servas, The Hague International Model United Nations*, Third World Network, Transnational Institute, United Nations of Youth, Women. s Environment and Development Organization, Women. s International League for Peace and Freedom, World Conference on Religion and Peace*, World Federalist Movement**, World Order Models. Project.

* Some observer groups are still considering the final status of their participation

**Members of the Coordinating Committee

Efforts are being made to increase membership of international organizations from Africa, Latin America and Asia.

It is clearly understood that most participating groups have focused mandates towards which they will be working in the overall Hague process. Participating groups will not be asked to endorse a common platform or the proposals of other groups except via sign-ons and other voluntary, consensual processes.

The Appeal. s Honorary Committee currently includes - amongst others - Jodi Williams, Desmond Tutu, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Elie Wiesel, Oscar Arias Sanchez, Maj-Britt Theorin, Josè Ramos-Horta, Mairead Maguire Corrigan, Alfredo Pèrez Esquivel, Joseph Rotblat, and Christa Wolf.

The Co-ordinating Committee is a core group of citizens. organizations who have assumed the legal, financial and executive committee responsibilities for The Hague Appeal for Peace, and who have established non-profit foundations for this purpose.

The Coordinating Committee is comprised of:

The International Peace Bureau (IPB);

We are also monitoring and supporting the governments. plans to commemorate the Centennial, organized by 25 nations led by the Russian Federation and the Netherlands, as well as plans for 1999 of the Movement of the Non-Aligned Countries and the International Committee of the Red Cross. In December 1997 the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution supporting the 1999 Centennial plans. This resolution refers to The Hague Appeal for Peace and suggests that the sequence of conferences in 1999 could be considered as a Third International peace Conference.

NEW YORK

Hague Appeal for Peace 1999

c/o WFM, 777 UN Plaza

NY 10017, New York, USA

tel: +1-212-687-2623, fax: +1-212-599-1332

email: hap99@igc.apc.org

THE HAGUE

Hague Appeal for Peace 1999

c/o IALANA, Anna Paulownastraat 103

2518 BC The Hague, The Netherlands

tel: +31-70-363-4484, fax: +31-70-345-5951

email: ialana@antenna.nl

Website: http://www.haguepeace.org